New Jersey Affordable Housing
In 2024, New Jersey's legislature signed, and the Governor passed, sweeping new legislation that they claimed would streamline the affordable housing process in New Jersey and help open up access to affordable housing to New Jerseyans who need it. The law does neither. We can do better.
New Jersey's current approach to affordable housing ...
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Foresees up to 40% of New Jerseyans getting their housing through a subsidized, bureaucratic lottery program
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Provides few avenues for home ownership and wealth-building for people who are not already wealthy
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Ignores widely-accepted policies that can lead to lower housing costs
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Leaves behind the crucial "missing middle" of school teachers, fire fighters, police officers, and blue collar workers who are increasingly getting priced out of affluent suburbs
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Forces local taxpayers to subsidize infrastructure and other costs - not just for affordable housing but for market-rate developments
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Promotes the development of large swaths of 100 % residential construction, not the mixed use development that planners believe is most beneficial to communities
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Ignores the need to protect environmentally sensitive areas and to upgrade transportation, stormwater, and other systems to support the growth that the new law mandates